MFT1080 cabinet

[jmatz]

Finally had time to put together the base for my MFT - works fine, nothing fancy.  I will be adding shelves or drawer slides for each individual systainer, plus drawers for supplies.  My requirement for this thing to have a small footprint has worked out great, since I'm working out of 1/2 of a two car garage. Future modifications will include a hook mounted inside the CT33 storage area so I can loop the hose 3 or 4 times and hang it from the hook.  Might also drill some vent holes for the CT exhaust and air intake if it overheats. When the casters are locked, the unit is very solid with no play.

JM

Original Post Here

Edit:  Added rear view of cabinet.  Roland Chung brought up a good point that two of these cabinets could be joined together, with the "back" sides facing each other.  Since the rails of the MFT are flush with the outer dimensions of the base cabinet, it would be easy to attach the two MFTs together using a couple Table Connectors (online catalog item #484455).  Then maybe just temporarily clamp the cabinets together or have a couple of holes for bolts to be threaded through the cabinet backs.  The double-sized unit would still be easily be moved around.

Edit:  Added front and left side diagrams.  MEASUREMENTS ARE APPROXIMATE !!  I often make on-the-fly changes during construction, so don't take these measurements too literally...

 

[Eli]

That looks great J. Are you thinking just a drawer bottom (systainer footprint) sized piece of ply with the slides mounted to the side of it, and a lip in the front and back?

 

[jmatz]

Thanks Eli.  Just a drawer bottom sounds good.  Maybe 1/2" birch ply.  I'll live with it for a week or two until various options come to mind, along with the usual great suggestions on this board.  Was considering screwing the slides into the sides of the systainers, but not sure.

 

[Eli]

I thought the same thing at first, bolt thru the sys side, but what if you wanted to take just one? I work on site. 1/2" would be good, but I'd worry about slide screws splitting the lams. Some of the tools are heavy. Maybe a hardwood frame with chewy nougat 1/2" ply center? Maybe just the frame even? You don't really need a bottom, just somewhere for the edges to sit.

You could put louvers all across the bottom

 

[jmatz]

Maybe just the frame even? You don't really need a bottom, just somewhere for the edges to sit.

There's an idea - maybe some aluminum angle stock welded into a frame.

 

[Eli]

Or for that matter, who needs a frame? a piece of angle mounted on each slide would do the same job, nothing to do but cut to length, drill the holes and get bolts (machine screws) with heads that clear the slide assembly. Maybe a strip of rubber matting on the top of each. Or one hole through each corner of the systainer to drop a bolt through. If you still want the ply you can add it on top of the angle, depending on vertical clearance. Yeah, that sounds easy and strong.

 

[Ned]

...1/2" would be good, but I'd worry about slide screws splitting the lams.

I would too.  So I'd use slides that mount to the cabinet walls but have built-in angles so that they're attached to the bottom of the drawer plywood.

Ned

 

[bruegf]

http://www.cshardware.com/Epoxy-Euro-Slides.htm

Good quality and low prices to boot.  I used these on my homemade Sysport. 

Fred

 

[Overtime]

Wow, that is a fine looking set up! Great idea and a fine job on the design. Looks like a great functional addition to your shop.
If dust becomes an issue you got a vac as close as you can get.

But if it gets real bad you could add a 2-4 inch strip of thick mill (firm but soft) clear plastic around the entire top edge of the cabinet kinda like a mud flap only for dust. So it falls more to the floor instead of into the cabinet.

 

[woodshopdemos]

JM,
  A very nice shop add. Today is a day when I actually had planned to "invent" a caster foot for the MFTs...all of a sudden, your idea looks way better.
  As t o slides, dont screw, bolt or anyting to the systainer. I think you would regret it. SImply make a tray with a one-half inch lip from and back. This will keep the S. from moving and will still allow you to remove as neccessary.
  Thanks for posting.

 

[woodwrights_corner]

Referencing your comment:  "I'll live with it for a week or two until various options come to mind, along with the usual great suggestions on this board."

I love this comment and strategy.  So many times stepping away from a project for just a few minutes, hours, or days can yield great results.  I am certain with all the suggestions you get from others your final project will be even greater.  Thanks for the photos!

 

[jmatz]

Thanks everyone.  Just wondering... as a project that you are working on evolves significantly and you want to post an update weeks or months later, is it best to edit or reply to the original thread or post a new one with a link to the old thread for reference?

 

[Ned]

JM--

If it's an update, I'd rather see it in the original thread.

If it's a significant change from what you have said earlier, I'd modify the original post so that new readers of the thread don't have to read the original and then mentally apply the changes. 

Obscure reference:  Microsoft Word's Fast Save was a stupid idea.  Computers could barely implement it.  Humans can't.

In every situation, the question should be "what works best for the reader of the thread?  A new reader of the thread?"

Ned

 

[gkeas]

I am in the process of designing something very similar to this.  My plan is to size it so the height of the lower cabinet is the same height as the top of the MFT (on its legs) so I set them up together if I need a larger work surface.  I'll also have a top insert sized the same as the MFT top so that I could use a replacement top (or drill my own) if I really need it.

I am also thinking of making frame & panel sides for the larger flat surfaces using peg board as the panel material. 

I'll use smaller casters, but a couple more, to maximize the interior space.  In the spots that are too narrow for systainers, I will have drawers or shelves for other storage, and I'll do something (probably an oversize drawer) over the CT22.

There are lots of great ideas on this board.  I'm glad I found it!

 

[Hergy]

JM,
   A very nice shop add. Today is a day when I actually had planned to "invent" a caster foot for the MFTs...all of a sudden, your idea looks way better.
   As t o slides, dont screw, bolt or anyting to the systainer. I think you would regret it. SImply make a tray with a one-half inch lip from and back. This will keep the S. from moving and will still allow you to remove as neccessary.
   Thanks for posting.

John, if you "invent" those casters, I'll be the first in line to get some. I have been racking my brain to figure out a way to make this table mobile. The OP has come up with a nice solution.

 

[gkeas]

John, if you "invent" those casters, I'll be the first in line to get some. I have been racking my brain to figure out a way to make this table mobile. The OP has come up with a nice solution.

I think you could find a way to attach these to the MFT legs (maybe a U bolt or something)

Casters

GK

 

[Roland Chung]

JM,

I love your project.  Right now, I am fighting my nature to overcomplicate things.  I want to build an oversized MFT or assembly table and I have a ton of great ideas from this and other forums.  I keep coming back to your design - clean and simple.

Instead of making one giant MFT, I am considering making more than one cabinet (similar to yours-heck, maybe exactly like yours) that I could set up in multiple configurations and that I could more easily store.

Since you posted this, have you added anything to the cabinet?  Is there anything that you would change on a future version?

RC

 

[Hergy]

John, I thought that all I wanted to do was to put wheels on my 1080, but the more I have looked at your project the more I like it. I'm trying to figure out the partitioning that you used. I can make it out on the front side ,but I'm curious what the back side looks like. Any chance you could post a pic of the back side?

 

[jmatz]

John, I thought that all I wanted to do was to put wheels on my 1080, but the more I have looked at your project the more I like it. I'm trying to figure out the partitioning that you used. I can make it out on the front side ,but I'm curious what the back side looks like. Any chance you could post a pic of the back side?

Sorry everyone - I went into "bicycle building and repair" mode for the summer an strayed away from this board.  I've added a photo of the rear of the cabinet to the original post.  If anyone wants the drawing file so that they can make their own modifications, I'd be glad to send it to them - or can I post it here somehow?  I used "Design Intuition", which is available for mac or windows.  Next version of the software will have more capabilities, but for now it is a simple interface and fairly inexpensive.

JM

 

[Dave Ronyak]

JM,

I would be grateful if you would post the photos and dimensions and a cut list or diagram or whatever you have retained that describes your design.  I am contemplating making similarly designed bases, one for a MFT 1080 like yours, a second smaller one for a MFT 800, and then a narrower third unit to serve as a base for my CMS to be set between the two cabinet-based MFTs.  That would provide lots of storage, decent support when cutting on the CMS, portability of the MFTs when needed outside of my garage/shop, and possibly enable me to eliminate an existing old wooden workbench that is not the best in condition or design/utility.  And I could use one or both of the MFT/cabinet units are rollabout in-feed and outfeed supports for my table saw/router table and as a rollabout storage for stock preparation and work-in-progress.  And if I set a lazy susan on top of one or a combination of the cabinet boxes, base dolly, and MFT units, I should be able to position work conveniently for spray finishing.

Dave R.